The present invention relates to fastener grommets used in various applications for fastening of one piece of fabric or material (hereafter referred to as xe2x80x9cmaterialxe2x80x9d) to another, or one location on a single piece of material to another location on the same piece, while providing function as a grommet whether unfastened or fastened between locations.
The new art has various applications in the fabric, garment, outdoor wear, recreational, tarpaulin, fabrication, mechanical, wood and metal construction, and related industries. The various embodiments of the invention may be constructed from metal, plastic or other suitable matter. The embodiments of the present invention will provide a valuable and useful function both (e.g. concurrently) as a fastener and as a grommet.
Grommets and Fasteners as individual and separate units are well known in the art for providing individual functions as grommets, or fasteners. The present invention relates to combining these functions into various but singular embodiments. After making numerous inquiries with manufacturers of individual embodiments of fasteners and grommets, and reviewing prior art patents, we have discovered no such prior art that achieves the present art combination of a fastener and a grommet. Various prior art fasteners and grommets may be used in a xe2x80x9cside-by-sidexe2x80x9d fashion. This prior art configuration of two independent pieces of hardware, one a grommet and the other a fastener, allows two separate locations on a piece of material to be fastened together, and may provide utility of a grommet at a separate location on the given material. This prior art requires that two separate and distinct hardware units (e.g. one a grommet embodiment and the other a fastener embodiment) be installed to be utilized. The present invention combines fastener and grommet functions in individual embodiments, thereby accomplishing a new art, and improvement over prior art, greatly improving fabrication efficiency, and economics, reducing weight and improving functional utility and appearance of fabricated garments, tarps, etc.
It is the general purpose and principal object of the present invention to provide fastener grommet embodiments which can fasten one location on a piece of material to another location on the same or a separate piece, while concurrently providing function as a grommet, whether fastened or unfastened.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastener grommet embodiment that conforms to the function of the stated general purpose and principal object, is permanently attached to material, and incorporates teachings about new art fastening mechanisms.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastener grommet embodiment that conforms to the function of the stated general purpose and principal object, is permanently attached to material, and incorporates the new art in prior art fasteners.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastener grommet embodiment that conforms to the function of the stated general purpose and principal object, and is not permanently attached to material.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a fastener grommet embodiment that conforms to the function of the stated general purpose and principal object, is not permanently attached to material, and incorporates a new art improvement on prior art fasteners.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a fastener grommet embodiment that is convenient in use, simple in manufacture, easily incorporated into various materials, and is effective in various applications.
Additional objects and advantages of the invention will be set forth in part in the following descriptions, or may be obvious from the descriptions, or may be learned through practice of the invention.
These and related objects and purposes may be achieved through novel fastener grommet embodiments some of which are herein disclosed. The fastener grommet embodiments provide fastener mechanisms of various designs, some examples of new art and some of prior art, that allow the fastening of two or more locations on an individual piece of material or on separate pieces of material, to each other. All of said fastener grommet embodiments encompass an opening that provides a grommet function concurrent with the fastening function. Said opening, in line with openings incorporated in materials receiving the new art fastener grommet embodiments, provides a passageway through which a cord, wire or other device may be passed when the embodiments are fastened between locations. This concurrent fastener and grommet function in single embodiments is a new art and is unlike any singular prior art grommet or fastener embodiment.
Some embodiments of the invention are comprised of two or more flange members joinable to each other and variously adapted to fasten two or more locations on one or more pieces of material to each other.
Another embodiment of the invention may consist of an individual flange member devised to fasten two or more locations on one or more pieces of material to each other.
Some embodiments have flange members engaged and adapted to permanently sandwich material between the first given members while being able to subsequently fasten with second given members of the embodiments at other locations on material, thereby joining two or more locations on material to each other while concurrently providing grommet function whether the first and seconds flange members are fastened or unfastened to each other.
Some of said flange members are not permanently joined together but nonetheless are capable of fastening two or more locations on material to each other while concurrently providing grommet function.
The descriptions of the suggested embodiments of the present invention provide teachings about incorporating the embodiments in materials commonly used in the fabric, garment, outdoor wear, recreational, tarpaulin, mechanical, wood and metal construction, and related industries.
The fastener grommet embodiments may be constructed from metal (brass, steel, etc.), plastic (synthetic organic polymers, etc.) or other suitable matter.
The utility and value of the present art in singular embodiments that incorporate concurrent fastener and grommet function will be intuitively obvious to those manufacturing and using the products of such industries.
The foregoing, and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention, will be more readily apparent to those skilled in the art after review of the detailed description taken together with the drawings.